History Main / WhatCliffhanger

A WhatCliffhanger happens when a chapter ends with a shocking turn of events, but the author doesn't tell you outright ''what it actually is''. It commonly involves abuse of the word "something", implying that the "something" will be revealed at the very beginning of the next chapter, making you wonder why the author didn't just put [[TheReveal the shocking revelation]] at the end of the previous chapter for untold amounts of extra drama and suspense. Instead, we are left to wonder what the plot twist will be.

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A WhatCliffhanger What Cliffhanger? happens when a chapter ends with a shocking turn of events, but the author doesn't tell you outright ''what it actually is''. It commonly involves abuse of the word "something", implying that the "something" will be revealed at the very beginning of the next chapter, making you wonder why the author didn't just put [[TheReveal the shocking revelation]] at the end of the previous chapter for untold amounts of extra drama and suspense. Instead, we are left to wonder what the plot twist will be.

* The fourth book of the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' series, ''A Feast For Crows'', has a scene in which one character is about to be hanged, and she says an unspecified word... and that's the last we hear of her in that book. In fact, it's the last we hear of the book.** In the next book, it's revealed [[spoiler: she's still alive, but ''still'' doesn't specify what the word is. It does, however, imply she agreed to kill the Kingslayer.]]

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* The fourth book of the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' series, ''A Feast For Crows'', has a scene in which one character is told to make a choice between death and treachery, refuses the choice, and is about to be hanged, hanged for it, and she says an unspecified word... and that's the last we hear of her in that book. In fact, it's the last we hear of the book.** In book. [[spoiler: It's implied, by the fact that she shows up alive in the next book, it's revealed [[spoiler: she's still alive, but ''still'' doesn't specify what the word is. It does, however, imply that she agreed to kill the Kingslayer.chose treachery.]]

* The fourth book of the ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' series, ''A Feast For Crows'', has a scene in which one character is about to be hanged, and she says an unspecified word... and that's the last we hear of her in that book. In fact, it's the last we hear of the book.* This was baited-and-switched in RobertRankin's ''The Literature/HollowChocolateBunniesOfTheApocalypse'', proving there's just [[ZigZaggingTrope no limit to recursive subversion of a trope]]. Eddie hands something important to Jack, who asks what it is - "it's a {{Macguffin}}". Except we never get a better explanation than that - it's only ever referred to as a macguffin, and [[ChekhovsGun when it inevitably turns out to be important]], what it actually does is entirely unexplained as well. It's that kind of book...

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* The fourth book of the ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' series, ''A Feast For Crows'', has a scene in which one character is about to be hanged, and she says an unspecified word... and that's the last we hear of her in that book. In fact, it's the last we hear of the book.* This was baited-and-switched in RobertRankin's Creator/RobertRankin's ''The Literature/HollowChocolateBunniesOfTheApocalypse'', proving there's just [[ZigZaggingTrope no limit to recursive subversion of a trope]]. Eddie hands something important to Jack, who asks what it is - "it's a {{Macguffin}}". Except we never get a better explanation than that - it's only ever referred to as a macguffin, and [[ChekhovsGun when it inevitably turns out to be important]], what it actually does is entirely unexplained as well. It's that kind of book...

* This was baited-and-switched in RobertRankin's ''The {{Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse}}'', proving there's just [[ZigZaggingTrope no limit to recursive subversion of a trope]]. Eddie hands something important to Jack, who asks what it is - "it's a {{Macguffin}}". Except we never get a better explanation than that - it's only ever referred to as a macguffin, and [[ChekhovsGun when it inevitably turns out to be important]], what it actually does is entirely unexplained as well. It's that kind of book...

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* This was baited-and-switched in RobertRankin's ''The {{Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse}}'', Literature/HollowChocolateBunniesOfTheApocalypse'', proving there's just [[ZigZaggingTrope no limit to recursive subversion of a trope]]. Eddie hands something important to Jack, who asks what it is - "it's a {{Macguffin}}". Except we never get a better explanation than that - it's only ever referred to as a macguffin, and [[ChekhovsGun when it inevitably turns out to be important]], what it actually does is entirely unexplained as well. It's that kind of book...

* Done in [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080922 this]] ''SluggyFreelance'' strip.** Done much more frustratingly [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20050123 here]]. SluggyFreelance updates daily, so nobody suspected that the cliffhanger would go unanswered for [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20050418 nearly three months]], but that's exactly what happened due to ''Oceans Unmoving'', a truly ambitious sci-fi chapter that revisited [[KillerRabbit a long-missing character]] but otherwise introduced an entirely new cast.

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* Done in [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080922 this]] ''SluggyFreelance'' ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' strip.** Done much more frustratingly [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20050123 here]]. SluggyFreelance ''Sluggy Freelance'' updates daily, so nobody suspected that the cliffhanger would go unanswered for [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20050418 nearly three months]], but that's exactly what happened due to ''Oceans Unmoving'', a truly ambitious sci-fi chapter that revisited [[KillerRabbit a long-missing character]] but otherwise introduced an entirely new cast.

** One episode of "Death to the Daleks" ends with the Doctor and Bellal about to walk into a room when the Doctor tells him to stop, pointing at the white and red tiled floor for no immediately apparent reason.

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** One episode of "Death to the Daleks" ends with the Doctor and Bellal about to walk into a room when the Doctor tells him to stop, pointing at the white and red tiled floor for no immediately apparent reason.reason. It was the result of poor pacing, as the episode was scripted to end on a scene of the Daleks getting closer a few minutes earlier.

A good cliffhanger will have you on the edge of your seat, screaming "What happens next?!"

A WhatCliffhanger, on the other hand, will have you on the edge of your seat, demanding "What's the cliffhanger?! What's the twist?! Why should I be excited?!" Instead of postponing TheReveal, it's been included - but phrased in a deliberately vague way for cheap suspense.

Reason: Too much intro—I didn\'t know what the trope was until the third paragraph!

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